The grandmother, naked and huge in the marble tub, looked like a handsome white whale. The granddaughter had just turned fourteen and was languid, soft-boned, and too meek for her age. With a parsimony that had something like sacred rigor about it, she was bathing her grandmother with water in which purifying herbs and aromatic leaves had been boiled, the latter clinging to the succulent back, the flowing metal-colored hair, and the powerful shoulders which were so mercilessly tattooed as to put sailors to shame.
The nature of the relationship between the grandmother and Erendira is situated right from the beginning. This is actually the second paragraph of the story, but it expands upon the opening paragraph to provide more precision of detail and nuance. The imagery is one of obvious juxtaposition informed with underlying tension of competition all situated within a scene that is simultaneously loving and exploitative. Within the context of this quote being part of an introductory session, the language suggests the story could go a number of ways. Nothing in the beginning necessarily implicates either character as good or evil, protagonist or villain. Unless, of course, one gives into the temptation to associated physical unattractiveness with villainy and tender beauty with innocence.
"My poor child. Life won't be long enough for you to pay me back for this mishap."
Although as big as a whale, Erendira’s grandmother’s stock in trade as a villainous character is not physical intimidation or brute force. In fact, it is almost the exact opposite. What makes her such a sinister character of profound malevolence is that her villainy plays out through a kinder of tenderness. Her greatest weapon is not voluminous size, but her ability to manipulate through deception. The quote above is directed rather threateningly toward her granddaughter following a destructive fire. The threat begins with an absence of menace: “My poor child.” Such soft-spoken charms of benevolence heavily populate the grandmother’s dialogue and is almost always followed by something much more malevolent. The grandmother has learned well the adage about catching flies with honey.
"She's got more life in her than an elephant. It can't be!"
"The whole trouble is that you're no good at all for killing anybody."
The grandmother forces her beautiful young granddaughter into prostitution. The Prince Charming of this dark little fairy tale is a young man name Ulises. They both realize the only way to save Erendira from the oppression of her evil grandmother is for Ulises to save her with extreme prejudice. As a result, much of the story is given over to the comically horrific (or horrifically comic) misadventures of Ulises trying to kill the old woman in a number of increasingly creative ways and failing miserably until a simple primal action with a simple primal weapon finally does the trick. The relationship between the damsel in distress and the prince who comes to her rescue is clearly complex and complicated. This exchange following yet another failure on the part of the unlucky but undeterred would-be assassin is particularly illuminating on the subject of just how complicated things get.
